Our Team
Angela O'Brien
Long before Angela became a professional bra fitter, she has a decade working in insurance developing her business skills in many areas. However, she found passion in developing a training department for an 80 million dollar product line. While growing Esteem Lingerie, she has continued to contract out as a business coach and facilitator. Angela’s specialty is helping businesses improve from their core foundations through analysis, process alignment and strategic planning. The academy is her dream come true, combining her skills as a trainer, facilitator and business coach with her love of bra fitting and operating a business in the lingerie industry.
Gilbert Guenette
Gilbert is a retired educator with a passion for photography, videography, video editing and web design. As an avid on-line educator and a life long learner, he has brought valuable transferrable skills in the development of our projects. As Florenda’s husband, he too is hands on with many aspects of Esteem Lingerie and Academy business.
Florenda Pickett
After spending many years working in various corporate careers, Florenda listened to her calling to become an entrepreneur and opened Esteem Lingerie with her daughter Angela. Her skills in sewing lead to an opportunity that has proven to be personally very satisfying. Combining the understanding of garment construction, process modeling and many other business skills, she has enjoyed many years serving clients in the lingerie business. Florenda brings in-depth knowledge of what is required to create and grow successfully in business, what to focus on, what to measure, and where and what to change to improve.
Eddie Rakowski
Eddie has been with both Esteem Lingerie and the Academy since the inception of both companies. He is our IT master who set up and maintains all of our technology. He has served as general contractor building our brick & mortar stores. He has even been known to count bras during inventory time! As Angela’s husband and the father to Esteem’s next generation, he is a little terrified of having teenage daughter’s and a wife who owns a lingerie shop!
Bra Fitting is a Science & an Art!
Our Intention
At Esteem Bra Fitting Academy, we are dedicated to transforming the art of bra fitting into a science of profitability. We achieve this by providing comprehensive, industry-leading training programs, fostering a community of passionate professionals, and offering ongoing support to ensure our graduates excel in their careers. Our commitment is to elevate the standards of bra fitting, empower boutique owners with the knowledge and tools for success, and create a ripple effect of excellence throughout the industry.
Our Vision
We envision independent lingerie boutiques being profitable business enterprises that employ and train professionals in our industry.
In the early 2000s, Florenda and Angela decided to leave the corporate world and follow their entrepreneurial passion by creating Esteem Lingerie. While their extensive business education and experience was invaluable in establishing the company, they found themselves lacking in educational knowledge specific to the lingerie industry. Unfortunately, they encountered a scarcity mentality among their industry peers, who were reluctant to share knowledge or offer coaching.
This challenge led Florenda and Angela to adopt a core business value: maintaining an open door for sharing ideas, practices, marketing strategies, and problem-solving solutions with any business or individual seeking assistance. Through their business life, they have been employed by other businesses for coaching, systems and process improvements.
As Esteem Lingerie evolved with its unique approach to customer education and service, they received consistent feedback from customers. Many praised the educational aspect of their fittings, often saying, "I have learned so much; you should teach this to other stores."
The concept of the Esteem Bra Fitting Academy was conceived in the early years of their lingerie business. However, it took time for all the pieces to fall into place. Today, their goal is clear: to ensure that all lingerie boutiques are profitable and recognized for their professional fitting skills and exceptional service.